Archive for September, 2004

Why is it the end of an era? I started reading this book as soon as I got it back in late June of last year. That’s 15 months ago. And it’s taken me that long to finish the book. The thing is, it’s a great book. It really is. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of it, thanks to Bryson’s conversational tone and delicate way of covering a potentially boring subject just deeply enough so that it seems fascinating. But I’d never read more than a few pages at a time. In the “reading room,” before bed, or on vacation. It’s been like that good friend that’s followed me around and been there when I needed him. Now, I’m done with him. The memories of breaking tradition and reading several chapters at once while sitting on a porch swing in West Virginia during last year’s anniversary trip while Huyen napped off a painful migraine… just memories. It’s kind of sad, really. No book’s ever stuck with me that long. Sure, it’s taken me a while to work through other books before, but most of them I’ve abandoned like women I picked up hitchhiking only to find out they were serial killer prostitutes. Bryson’s book and I had become buddies.

But, alas, all good things come to an end, and I finished up page 478 last night thinking, “Hm… that ending felt a bit rushed.” Yet, I was satisfied. Ready to finally remove the book from that All Consuming list on the right side of my blog and ready to find another friend that could stay with me that long. One thing’s for sure: it can’t be a library book, so I’ll have to search my shelves or my wish list for a new best friend.

And yes, Dad, now that I’m done, you can borrow the book. Take good care of him.

Had a great weekend that kicked off with a nice relaxing Saturday morning and afternoon. Then we headed into Falls Church to meet up with Robert, Ray, and Bob for a tasty dinner at Four Sisters (though they did try to serve me pork spring rolls… poison!). Also picked up a Vietnamese vegetarian cooking DVD and some mega-expensive imported chom choms.

Yesterday I spent 11 hours at the farm volunteering for their open house. It was a lot of fun and Huyen was there for most of the day as well. And, damn, the food was amazing. Java Green and The Wooden Shoe are getting my business in the near future. Pictures on the way.

A new mini-site has launched on laze.net: Political Bumpers, which aims “to detail the results of an extremely unscientific research project about the correlation between the car someone drives and their political leaning.”

I’ve got a crack squad of spotters on the job, so it should be interesting to see how this little experiment turns out come Election Day.

(Update: I forgot to mention that Dave is responsible for the header graphic. What a guy.)

The other night the Dish program guide said that the guest on The Daily Show was “singer Robert Smith (The Cure).” They had the right name, but the wrong guy.

The Surreal Life season three is on VH1 this season. As you’d expect, I’m telling you it’s worth following it to a different channel. Flavor Flav and Dave Coulier are roommates, damn it, how could anything be better?

Yesterday I was behind a Land Cruiser with the following bumper sticker:

That’s why America’s so great: even assholes with offensive opinions can say what they want on the bumper of their car.

This bumper sticker and loads of other offensive, ignorant, and racist stuff are available at the Right-Wing Cafepress store. (I’m fully aware there are unoffensive, informed, non-racist conservative bumper stickers out there, but none of them are in this Cafepress shop.)